Summary

The manufacturing company examined in this case study uses WLANs to improve productivity (office) and business process (factory). Like many companies that adopt technologies early, the financial restrictions and company culture that existed forced the deployment to be limited in scope and scale. The due diligence done in the discovery and initial deployment proved successful in driving the acceptance of WLAN as a viable and financially justifiable solution. In addition to having to work within financial limitations, the company was challenged with finding a solution that could provide a sufficient level of security. A WLAN also proved beneficial in the factory by helping to reduce cost and allow for flexibility. Looking forward, further uses of the WLAN, such as voice and RFID, continue to be examined.